We are here to attend Josiah, I. To the temple,
where we see his religious care for the due observance of the
ordinance of the passover, according to the law, ver. 1-19. II. To the field of battle,
where we see his rashness in engaging with the king of Egypt, and
how dearly it cost him, ver.
20-23. III. To the grave, where we see him bitterly
lamented, ver. 24-27.
And so we must take our leave of Josiah.

The Reign of Josiah. (b. c. 623.)

1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the
passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2
And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the
service of the house of the Lord,
3 And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which
were holy unto the Lord, Put the
holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel
did build; it shall not be a burden upon your
shoulders: serve now the Lord your
God, and his people Israel, 4 And prepare yourselves
by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the
writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of
Solomon his son. 5 And stand in the holy place
according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your
brethren the people, and after the division of the families
of the Levites. 6 So kill the passover, and sanctify
yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do
according to the word of the Lord by
the hand of Moses. 7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the
flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that
were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand
bullocks: these were of the king's substance. 8 And
his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to
the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house
of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two
thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred
oxen. 9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his
brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the
Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand
small cattle, and five hundred oxen. 10 So the
service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the
Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.
11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled
the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed
them. 12 And they removed the burnt offerings, that
they might give according to the divisions of the families of the
people, to offer unto the Lord, as
it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they
with the oxen. 13 And they roasted the passover with fire
according to the ordinance: but the other holy
offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans,
and divided them speedily among all the people. 14
And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests:
because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in
offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the
Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of
Aaron. 15 And the singers the sons of Asaph were in
their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and
Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited
at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their
brethren the Levites prepared for them. 16 So all the
service of the Lord was prepared the
same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon
the altar of the Lord, according to
the commandment of king Josiah. 17 And the children of
Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the
feast of unleavened bread seven days. 18 And there was no
passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the
prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover
as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and
Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover
kept.

The destruction which Josiah made of idols
and idolatry was more largely related in the Kings, but just
mentioned here in the foregoing chapter (v. 33); but his solemnizing the
passover, which was touched upon there (2 Kings xxiii. 21), is very particularly
related here. Many were the feasts of the Lord, appointed by the
ceremonial law, but the passover was the chief. It began them
all in the night wherein Israel came out of Egypt; it
concluded them all in the night wherein Christ was betrayed;
and in the celebration of it Hezekiah and Josiah, those two great
reformers, revived religion in their day. The ordinance of the
Lord's supper resembles the passover more than it does any of the
Jewish festivals; and the due observance of that ordinance,
according to the rule, is an instance and means both of the growing
purity and beauty of churches and of the growing piety and devotion
of particular Christians. Religion cannot flourish where that
passover is either wholly neglected or not duly observed; return to
that, revive that, make a solemn business of that affecting binding
ordinance, and then, it is to be hoped, there will be a reformation
in other instances also.

In the account we had of Hezekiah's
passover the great zeal of the people was observable, and the
transport of devout affection that they were in; but little of the
same spirit appears here. It was more in compliance with the king
that they all kept the passover (v. 17, 18) than from any great
inclination they had to it themselves. Some pride they took in this
form of godliness, but little pleasure in the power of it. But,
whatever defect there was among the people in the spirit of the
duty, both the magistrates and the ministers did their part and
took care that the external part of the service should be performed
with due solemnity.

I. The king exhorted and directed,
quickened and encouraged, the priests and Levites to do their
office in this solemnity. Perhaps he saw them remiss and
indifferent, unwilling to go out of their road or mend their pace.
If ministers are so, it is not amiss for any, but most proper for
magistrates, to stir them up to their business. Say to Archippus,
Take heed to thy ministry, Col.
iv. 17. Let us see how this good king managed his clergy
upon this occasion. 1. He reduced them to the office they were
appointed to by the law of Moses (v. 6) and the order they were put into
by David and Solomon, v.
4. He set them in their charge, v. 2. He did not cut them out
new work, nor put them into any new method, but called them back to
their institution. Their courses were settled in writing; let them
have recourse to that writing, and marshal themselves according to
the divisions of their families, v. 5. Our rule is settled in the
written word; let magistrates take care that ministers walk
according to that rule and they do their duty. 2. He ordered the
ark to be put in its place. It should seem, it had of late been
displaced, either by the wicked kings, to make room for their idols
in the most holy place, or by Hezekiah, to make room for the
workmen that repaired the temple. However it was, Josiah bids the
Levites put the ark in the house (v. 3), and not carry it about from
place to place, as perhaps of late they had done, justifying
themselves therein by the practice before the temple was built. Now
that the priests were discharged from this burden of the ark they
must be careful in other services about it. 3. He charged them to
serve God and his people Israel, v. 3. Ministers must look upon
themselves as servants both to Christ and to his church for his
sake, 2 Cor. iv. 5. They
must take care, and take pains, and lay out themselves to the
utmost, (1.) For the glory and honour of God, and to advance the
interests of his kingdom among men. Paul, a servant of God,
Tit. i. 1. (2.) For the
welfare and benefit of his people, not as having dominion over
their faith, but as helpers of their holiness and joy; and there
will be no difficulty, in the strength of God, in honestly serving
these two masters. 4. He charged them to sanctify
themselves, and prepare their brethren, v. 6. Ministers' work must
begin at home, and they must sanctify themselves in the first
place, purify themselves from sin, sequester themselves from the
world, and devote themselves to God. But it must not end there;
they must do what they can to prepare their brethren by
admonishing, instructing, exhorting, quickening, and comforting,
them. The preparation of the heart is indeed from the
Lord; but ministers must be instruments in his hand. 5. He
encouraged them to the service, v. 2. He spoke comfortably to them, as
Hezekiah did, ch. xxx.
22. He promised them his countenance. Note, Those whom
we charge we should encourage. Most people love to be commended,
and will be wrought upon by encouragements more than by
threats.

II. The king and the princes, influenced by
his example, gave liberally for the bearing of the charges of this
passover. The ceremonial services were expensive, which perhaps was
one reason why they had been neglected. People had not zeal enough
to be at the charge of them; nor were they now very fond of them,
for that reason, and therefore, 1. Josiah, at his own proper cost,
furnished the congregation with paschal lambs, and other
sacrifices, to be offered during the seven days of the feast. He
allowed out of his own estate 30,000 lambs for passover
offerings, which the offerers were to feast upon, and 3000
bullocks (v. 7) to
be offered during the following seven days. Note, Those who are
serious in religion should, when they persuade others to do that
which is good, make it as cheap and easy to them as may be. And
where God sows plentifully he expects to reap accordingly. It is to
be feared that the congregation generally had not come provided; so
that, if Josiah had not furnished them, the work of God must have
stood still. 2. The chief of the priests, who were men of great
estates, contributed towards the priests' charges, as Josiah did
towards the people's. The princes (v. 8), that is, the chief of the
priests, the princes of the holy tribe, rulers of the house of
God, bore the priests' charges. And some of the rich and great
men of the Levites furnished them also with cattle, both great and
small, for offerings, v.
9. For, as to those that sincerely desire to be found in
the way of their duty, Providence sometimes raises up friends to
bear them out in it, beyond what they could have expected.

III. The priests and Levites performed
their office very readily, v.
10. They killed the paschal lambs in the court of the
temple, the priests sprinkled the blood upon the altar, the Levites
flayed them, and then gave the flesh to the people according to
their families (v. 11,
12), not fewer than ten, nor more than twenty, to a
lamb. They took it to their several apartments, roasted it, and ate
it according to the ordinance, v. 13. As for the other sacrifices
that were eucharistical, the flesh of them was boiled according to
the law of the peace-offerings and was divided speedily among
the people, that they might feast upon it as a token of their
joy in the atonement made and their reconciliation to God thereby.
And, lastly, The priests and Levites took care to honour God
by eating of the passover themselves, v. 14. Let not ministers think that
the care they take for the souls of others will excuse their
neglect of their own, or that being employed so much in public
worship will supersede the religious exercises of their closets and
families. The Levites here made ready for themselves and for the
priests, because the priests were wholly taken up all day in the
service of the altar; therefore, that they might not have their
lamb to dress when they should eat it, the Levites got it ready for
them against supper time. Let ministers learn hence to help one
another, and to forward one another's work, as brethren, and
fellow-servants of the same Master.

IV. The singers and porters attended in
their places, and did their office, v. 15. The singers with their sacred
songs and music expressed and excited the joy of the congregation,
and made the service very pleasant to them; and the porters at the
gates took care that there should be no breaking in of any thing to
defile or disquiet the assembly, nor going out of any from it, that
none should steal away till the service was done. While they were
thus employed their brethren the Levites prepared paschal lambs for
them.

V. The whole solemnity was performed with
great exactness, according to the law (v. 16, 17), and, upon that
account, there was none like it since Samuel's time (v. 18), for in Hezekiah's
passover there were several irregularities. And bishop Patrick
observes that in this also it exceeded the other passovers which
the preceding kings had kept, that though Josiah was by no means so
rich as David, and Solomon, and Jehoshaphat, yet he furnished the
whole congregation with beasts for sacrifice, both paschal and
eucharistical, at his own proper cost and charge, which was more
than any king ever did before him.

The Death of Josiah. (b. c. 610.)

20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the
temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by
Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him. 21 But he sent
ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king
of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the
house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste:
forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me,
that he destroy thee not. 22 Nevertheless Josiah would not
turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight
with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth
of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. 23 And
the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants,
Have me away; for I am sore wounded. 24 His servants
therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second
chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he
died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his
fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 25
And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the
singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day,
and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are
written in the lamentations. 26 Now the rest of the acts of
Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was
written in the law of the Lord,
27 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are
written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

It was thirteen years from Josiah's famous
passover to his death. During this time, we may hope, thing went
well in his kingdom, that he prospered, and religion flourished;
yet we are not entertained with the pleasing account of those
years, but they are passed over in silence, because the people, for
all this, were not turned from the love of their sins nor God from
the fierceness of his anger, and you can find
more about that here on
st-takla.org on other commentaries and
dictionary entries. The next news therefore we hear of
Josiah is that he is cut off in the midst of his days and
usefulness, before he is full forty years old. We had this sad
story, 2 Kings xxiii. 29,
30. Here it is somewhat more largely related. That
appears here, more than did there, which reflects such blame on
Josiah and such praise on the people as one would not have
expected.

I. Josiah was a very good prince, yet he
was much to be blamed for his rashness and presumption in going out
to war against the king of Egypt without cause or call. It was bad
enough, as it appeared in the Kings, that he meddled with
strife which belonged not to him. But here it looks worse; for, it
seems, the king of Egypt sent ambassadors to him, to warn him
against this enterprise, v.
21.

1. The king of Egypt argued with Josiah,
(1.) From principles of justice. He professed that he had no desire
to do him any hurt, and therefore it was unfair, against common
equity and the law of nations, for Josiah to take up arms against
him. If even a righteous man engage in an unrighteous
cause, let him not expect to prosper. God is no respecter of
persons. See Prov. iii. 30;
xxv. 8. (2.) From principles of religion: "God is
with me; nay, He commanded me to make haste, and
therefore, if thou retard my motions, thou meddlest with God." It
cannot be that the king of Egypt only pretended this (as
Sennacherib did in a like case, 2
Kings xviii. 25), hoping thereby to make Josiah desist,
because he knew he had a veneration for the word of God; for it is
said here (v. 22)
that the words of Necho were from the mouth of God. We must
therefore suppose that either by a dream, or by a strong impulse
upon his spirit which he had reason to think was from God, or by
Jeremiah or some other prophet, he had ordered him to make war upon
the king of Assyria. (3.) From principles of policy: "That he
destroy thee not; it is at thy peril if thou engage against one
that has not only a better army and a better cause, but God on his
side."

2. It was not in wrath to Josiah, whose
heart was upright with the Lord his God, but in wrath to a
hypocritical nation, who were unworthy of so good a king, that he
was so far infatuated as not to hearken to these fair reasonings
and desist from his enterprise. He would not turn his face from
him, but went in person and fought the Egyptian army in the
valley of Megiddo, v.
22. If perhaps he could not believe that the king of
Egypt had a command from God to do what he did, yet, upon his
pleading such a command, he ought to have consulted the oracles of
God before he went out against him. His not doing that was his
great fault, and of fatal consequence. In this matter he walked not
in the ways of David his father; for, had it been his case, he
would have enquired of the Lord, Shall I go up? Wilt thou
deliver them into my hands? How can we think to prosper in our
ways if we do not acknowledge God in them?

II. The people were a very wicked people,
yet they were much to be commended for lamenting the death of
Josiah as they did. That Jeremiah lamented him I do not wonder; he
was the weeping prophet, and plainly foresaw the utter ruin of his
country following upon the death of this good king. But it is
strange to find that all Judah and Jerusalem, that stupid senseless
people, mourned for him (v. 24), contrived how to have their
mourning excited by singing men and singing women, how to have it
spread through the kingdom (they made an ordinance in Israel that
the mournful ditties penned on this sad occasion should be learned
and sung by all sorts of people), and also how to have the
remembrance of it perpetuated: these elegies were inserted in the
collections of state poems; they are written in the Lamentations.
Hereby it appeared, 1. That they had some respect to their good
prince, and that, though they did not cordially comply with him in
all his good designs, they could not but greatly honour him. Pious
useful men will be manifested in the consciences even of those that
will not be influenced by their example; and many that will not
submit to the rules of serious godliness themselves yet cannot but
give it their good word and esteem it in others. Perhaps those
lamented Josiah when he was dead that were not thankful to God for
him while he lived. The Israelites murmured at Moses and Aaron
while they were with them and spoke sometimes of stoning them, and
yet, when they died, they mourned for them many days. We are often
taught to value mercies by the loss of them which, when we enjoyed
them, we did not prize as we ought. 2. That they had some sense of
their own danger now that he was gone. Jeremiah told them, it is
likely, of the evil they might now expect to come upon them, from
which he was taken away; and so far they credited what he said that
they lamented the death of him that was their defence. Note, Many
will more easily be persuaded to lament the miseries that are
coming upon them than to take the proper way by universal
reformation to prevent them, will shed tears for their troubles,
but will not be prevailed upon to part with their sins. But godly
sorrow worketh repentance and that repentance will be to
salvation.